I’m reading the book “Frackers” to get an idea of how this all happened. Exxon and other large companies were not interested in shale for a long time.
Mitchell Energy came up with the idea that the Barnett shale under Dallas-Fort Worth held valuable natural gas. The owner decided to pursue it when he was 63. By the time he was proven correct and became wealthy, he was 79 with a wife with Alzheimer’s. The American dream blossoms when most of us retire. In this case, he helped change the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Mitchell
George Phydias Mitchell (May 21, 1919 – July 26, 2013) was an American businessman, real estate developer and philanthropist from Texas credited with pioneering the economic extraction of shale gas.[2]
According to The Economist, “few businesspeople have done as much to change the world as George Mitchell.”[3]